So Trump has spoken and his State of the Union Address wasn’t too bad. In fact it was quite good. Moderate in parts and optimistic in tone, his firm and sometimes dark beliefs were cloaked in unifying words. He stuck to his teleprompter and it worked. The immediate opinion polls were positive. The BBC called him the pugilist President. He would be pleased with that…
We await his next tweet barrage with glee but what if it doesn’t come? What if Trump acquires a taste for broader popularity?
Let’s look at his record to date and then his speech. After a terrible start with too many mistakes to mention and wild invective, a powering economy and stock market with a record tax cut (the disastrous consequences will take time to arrive) are providing a major boost. It is the economy stupid even if Barack Obama should take the real credit for its current performance.
In his speech he boasted of record low African American unemployment, wants a deal for Dreamers (children of illegal immigrants) but not all family members and is tough on terrorism, drugs and gangs. Keeping Guantanamo open is hardly a vote loser and even the nonsensical Mexican wall which will now be paid for by the US (almost certainly courtesy of the Democrats…) keeps his core base happy. His commitment to infrastructure strikes a chord too.
The Democrats’ response? Churlishly sitting on their hands at too many points of his speech, hand wringing over immigration, not seeing that the game has changed… just look at Brexit and Europe as a whole driven to a frenzy by too much immigration. They could only find a Kennedy to respond averagely. Talk about back to the future…
The Democrats still don’t understand why Trump won the election and still have nothing to say to his core base. Egged on by a largely liberal media, they are too shrill and partisan in their opposition. Torn between the Left and centrists, they have no new alternative agenda and no leading light yet to seize a new presidential mantle. The Democrats should treat Trump more cleverly, embracing some of his more palatable initiatives. Hug your enemy close. If he blows up as they are so certain he will, then they will look magnanimous in victory.
Many issues may (hopefully) derail Trump but if he gets remotely clever, he will have the current Democratic opposition on the ropes. Those November midterm elections seem along way a way…
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